Tuesday, August 31, 2010

31 August 2010


Celia left this morning, her month of cooking being done. It's a bit sad to see these workers leave. During the last weeks, we've shared a kitchen and so have gotten to know her a bit. She is Sanchez's sister so hopefully she will be back again so we can see her. She is off to her village to be with her family including five girls between the ages of 5 and 28!

The plumber and his crew were cleaning the pool when I got up this morning. They had the circulation pumps going and had added chemicals. The brushed and vacuumed the sides and bottom of the pool. It looks a bit more inviting this afternoon, as some of the algae bloom has disappeared. They were also installing the gutters for the run off at the far end of the pool. We also now have a ladder for easier access in and out. The water is 1.2 meters deep, and isn't really too bad for getting out of without the ladder; but this will be oh so much easier!

Direct TV has also been contracted to install cable TV. Once again, as a foreigner, I had to have someone co-sign the contract with me. Koki was generous enough to do so. I had to pay a $30 instalation fee. The Direct TV office gave me their bank information and I had to pay the fee directly into their account at the bank. The bank gave me a voucher which I then returned to the store to show the bill had been paid. I find it an interesting method of doing things...a lot of businesses don't collect money directly from customers. Even in the stores where they do, they have a cashier who takes the sales clerk's chit, charges your account and then gives you a voucher to take back to the salesperson. He then gathers your purchases together and takes it to the door where a security guard checks each item against the voucher. In some stores, like the electronic store, they will even record the serial number and the product code into a notebook as you leave. They are very security conscious.



Chino has now finished the floor of the BBQ pit. All that is left here is for the water to be hooked up to a faucet, and some kind of BBQ rack/apparatus. It is an interesting spot, ambience as they say here. The tiles are slight off at the steps, but the center lines up with the whole which could receive the post for a large umbrella if we chose.

The walkway between the front of the living room and the pool is cemented in and workers are waiting on the arrival of more tiles with Koki tomorrow. The stairs should also arrive tomorrow.

The carpenters have been here installing doors for the service building. Last I looked, they had installed all the doors there, also into the pantry/kitchen and the storage room. The only other wooden door I can think of right now is into the bathroom from the music room. I don't think that one is in yet. They will then have the stairs to deal with.

Haven't seen the glass guys; but they want to come in after carpenters to do the windows in the service building and the railings for the stairs and lofts.

Truly, the only things left are little things. And there are a lot of little things, but we should be able to get these things done in a short time. Hard to believe, after nine months we are just about there.

I didn't work at all on the mural today. The next animal will be the tortoise, and my design for him just wasn't coming together well. I read for a while, took a nap, and then revisited the tortoise. I have the colors chosen, but not the specific design. I've learned a lot from the mural so far...1. you don't have to have % coverage of paint. Having a little of the white background can work for you. 2. generally colors applied on the fly rather than ones that have been thought out, don't work. 3. A lot of color mixing happens on the wall. 4. Do the background first. I was too anxious to get started to do the background. It will now be infinitely more difficult....The price for impatience. 5. Ladders in Peru aren't nearly as sturdy as those in the States. The rungs on this one are one by two's, with the one inch side as the top of the step. It is, however, a step up from the bamboo ladder the crew constructed and I first used. 6. Murals are works in progress. You learn as you go; you figure out design flaws as you go. For example, the parts of the mural I am the most excited about are the ones that have a realistic shape and color; but also have folk art designs encorporated into them. When you see the marlin, you know it is a marlin....the first fish I did is just a stylized fish. I'm hoping I see something close to it in the market so I say it is a specific kind of fish!

Doug leaves the states tonight and will be in Lima in the morning. He will then travel by bus up north and be here by Thursday morning. It has been a long three plus weeks that he's been gone. Unfortunately, he missed a lot of the final decisions around the house here, so he will have to live with I've decided. Meanwhile, I am glad he has had this opportunity to spend with both of his parents. He's had some good quality time with his family in these last few weeks.

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